By Joe Salas From its origins in a gym in 2003, the annual Taste of Greenwich House—to be held this year on March 13th—has developed into a showcase of the Village’s best restaurants and a “must-attend” for everyone following the Greenwich Village food scene. With more than 30 restaurants, eateries including Market Table and Café

By David A. Porat Visiting 4 Charles Prime Rib is like stepping back in time, to a small old-fashioned watering hole with good food and an “everybody knows your name” feel. But there is a lot more than meets the eye, or the taste buds. Designed like it has not changed in decades (maybe even

On December 20th, the West Village lost another institution to the greed of area building owners. Da Silvano, one of the best Italian restaurants in the City, which sat just below 6th Avenue and Bleecker Street for 41 years, closed. Da Silvano was one of the first restaurants in New York to popularize Northern Italian

By Andrew Buemi Winter is officially upon us, and with the cold weather, the neighborhood coffee shop becomes a refuge of warmth and comfort. Some of the City’s most storied coffee houses—like Caffe Reggio, the first U.S. cafe to serve an Italian cappuccino (in 1927), or Café ‘Ino, a favorite of Patti Smith—have called the

By Caroline Beneviste We received a number of responses to our article last month about food shopping in the West Village. Three of the respondents graciously agreed to let us publish their letters. Here they are: I am shocked, actually. For bread, Amy’s Bread on Bleecker, next door to Murray’s, has a wide range of

Li-Lac Chocolates, the oldest chocolatier in Manhattan, opened at 120 Christopher Street (near Bedford Street) in 1923. It was the brainchild of George Demetrious, a Greek immigrant who learned his chocolate-making skills in France. Li-Lac remained there until 2005 when the rent skyrocketed, forcing a move to its current location at 40 8th Avenue (at

Dear George: I read your review of The Black Derby and thought I might take my wife there for a night out. However, upon checking the website, I discovered that the $12 hamburger is now $14! Did they raise the price thanks to your review or did you just err? If the former, you ought

By Caroline Benveniste The Village, like the rest of the City, has seen a spate of food store closings (also reported in the New York Times article “Where Did My Supermarket Go?” on November 4, 2016). This month, we report on the closing of Mrs. Green’s. However, the Village is still a wonderful place to

By Caroline Benveniste We ended our March 2016 WestView article on Chumley’s with: “Only time will tell whether or not there is a spring opening of Chumley’s.” Chumley’s did not open in the spring, but it did finally open on October 18th. In the intervening months, WestView News was in the middle of a battle

By George Capsis Few phone calls offer the instant euphoria of: “We would like to advertise,” coupled with (like a drop of olive oil) a Greek accent. Ahh this was going to be easy. Nikolaos (Nick) Biziouras, the co-owner, with Seth Leffer, of a new restaurant called The Black Derby at 310 West 4th Street,

By David Porat George Capsis is even more at home now in his neighborhood with some classic Greek food almost around the corner and in the heart of the West Village. Brand new and looking quite put together, NISI Estiatorio opened in late October. I had the pleasure of dining there, by invitation, with George,

Hi Mr. Capsis, Hope you are having a lovely holiday weekend. As I am reading the review by Ms. Caroline Benveniste of Ristorante Rafele, I would like to point out a few things that are untrue: 1. 900 Degrees, the pizza restaurant that folded prior to the opening of Ristorante Rafele, was not a “dump”

By David Porat Living in the neighborhood, I have found that many of the places up and down Seventh Avenue South have become fixtures, tourist destinations, or maybe places to avoid when looking for good food locally. They are also not known for value because of high rent due to their location in a high-traffic

By David Porat Günter Seeger is new on Hudson Street with a very distinguished and somewhat mysterious façade. Its storefront piqued my curiosity on my way to High Street on Hudson, one of my current favorite places in the neighborhood. I entered the restaurant at about 6 pm on a Saturday before any guests arrived,

This month saw a larger than usual spate of openings, with a sizeable contingent of healthy, local ingredient spots popping up across the Village. Chain store closings on Bleecker Street continue with Coach decamping overnight and taking with them their benches. Photos by Maggie Berkvist. Recently Opened The Butcher’s Daughter (581 Hudson St.): The second

By David Porat Suvir Saran owned a restaurant in New York called Devi on West 18th Street, not too far from where the Union Square Cafe used to be. I have fond memories of many meals there that were somewhat traditional Indian food but done in a very inspired way within a very ornate “ethnic”

By George Capsis When nearly 200 graying West Villagers along with just about every local politician shows up—as they did on Sunday, March 13th to protest the closing of a small modestly priced supermarket, there has to be a deeper story. Many of these senior protesters are, I believe, trapped—living in too-small, rent stabilized apartments

Another negative consequence of the closing of Associated Supermarket is something most people would not think about—the needy people who rely on redeeming cans and bottles to supplement their meager income. I see these people— both men and women and usually nicely dressed—going through the litter baskets on the streets and also in front of

By George Capsis As I wrote in the April issue, the response of the new President and Chief Operating Officer of D’Agostino, Bob James, regarding the creation of a program to address the needs of West Village seniors (many living in rent stabilized or rent controlled apartments with only, after rent, the remains of a

By Corey Johnson The epidemic of supermarket closures across New York City has raised new awareness of the difficulty many New Yorkers face in accessing affordable, healthy food. For the supermarkets that do remain, prices are rising. Among those hardest hit by these trends are our seniors. Every effort must be made to ensure that

On April 21st, members of the ‘special relationship’ also enjoyed a special celebration marking Queen Elizabeth‘s 90th birthday. West Village favorite, Li-Lac Chocolates, was chosen to be partners with the Market at Grand Central in offering, for $29 per set, souvenir mini boxes of chocolates, made in Scotland and containing blackcurrants from the Queen’s own garden, along with a commemorative

By David Porat I am reporting now from Guangzhou, my fourth stop on my quick round-the-world trek. This trip is part buying trip and part getting a little distance (some might say a good bit of distance) from being too inside my business. I enjoy eating so it is an excuse to find good food

By David Porat Morten Sohlberg and Min Ye are entrepreneurs who own several diversified food businesses. The newest addition to their collection is Blenheim Restaurant. The restaurant is in the same location as the Smorgas Chef restaurant which still exists in other locations and is part of their family. The inspiration for the central west

By David Porat Suprema Provisions Walking up Bleecker St. last week, I noticed an attractive storefront which had opened just that day. It looks like a lifestyle statement focusing on Mediterranean living and food. The front of the store is tastefully filled with specialty food, housewares and food-friendly books to take home. The back holds

By Joseph Salas Chef Harold Moore, former executive chef and owner of the West Village’s Commerce, will be the Featured Chef at the 14th Annual Taste of Greenwich House on Monday, March 14th. Taste is a premier culinary festival featuring samples of known favorites and off-menu specialties from Village staples and groundbreaking eateries from across

By Barbara Chacour Interview with owners Andy Arons and Adam Hartman at their SoHo office, a 3rd floor walkup reminiscent of the old industrial SoHo—i.e., a small but neat warren of activity. The owners explained that while store rents are high, they keep overhead very lean. The business evolved out of a wholesale supplier to

By Caroline Benveniste In his January 8th article in the Daily News, Michael Kaminer made the case that Greenwich Avenue between 6th and 7th avenues is the new restaurant row. Five restaurants are mentioned in the column, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. In all, there are 25 restaurants including three that

By David Porat Eating out is not always about what the kitchen is up to — many larger restaurants are corporately developed to streamline the kitchen, focusing on the atmosphere or often the bar, where they more easily make money. Three new places are very much about the prowess and creativity of the kitchen, and

By Marc Levy Tucked away on Sullivan Street, this cozy Greenwich Village newcomer is an upbeat homage to traditional French cuisine. With MIMI, young owners Louis Levy, Evan and Daniel Bennett, and designer Camilla Deterre have meticulously crafted their vision of a convivial place that they and the neighborhood would love. The décor is sleek

By Caroline Benveniste Far West Village residents should be excited that Brooklyn Fare is coming to the space in the Archive, at the intersection of Christopher and Greenwich, which used to house a D’Agostino’s. When the D’Agostino brothers launched their first store on the Upper East Side in the 1930’s, they had the revolutionary idea

By John Barrera Two months ago Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) announced that by the end of 2016 all thirteen of his New York City based restaurants will eliminate the tipping portion of your dining experience from all their foodservice establishments. If you think this is not an issue—bring it up

By Caroline Benveniste Formerly, Greenwich Village residents seeking Japanese groceries would travel to the East Village or Soho. But now on 6th Avenue between 12th and 13th is a small store with a bright orange flag announcing: “Japanese Deli + Grocery dainobu”. Unlike some of the other stores I have written about, this store

Dear Mr. Capsis, I have been enjoying WestViews News for many years, and it is usually well written and edited. But in the last paragraph on page ten of the September issue, “I found the prices in Mrs. Green’s breathtaking,” is unclear. Do you mean breathtaking high or breathtaking low? I think I know what

By David Porat Brooklyn Fare, a neighborhood food store from downtown Brooklyn, is replacing the D’Agostinos in the Archives Building at 666 Greenwich Street at Christopher. Curiously, Brooklyn is where people eat at home versus Manhattan where people dine out. In addition, within the food world, the Brooklyn label does have a good bit of

By Caroline Benveniste Faicco’s on Bleecker is definitely worth a visit for, among other things, their divine sopressata which Eater critic Robert Sietsema says is “every bit as good as anything you can get in Italy, perhaps better.” The Faicco story begins in Italy and is a complicated one that goes back 115 years, involves